Thursday, November 20, 2008

Find The Opportunities

These days, it's tough to walk by a tv without seeing a stock price drop or some potential crisis on the horizon. Studies in a Calgary day care show stress levels in day-care aged children are on the rise, and health and wellness are becoming national concerns. It's at times like these, a lot of us throw our hands up and ask "where do I have to turn to find good news?"

Glad you asked. The fact is, there are a lot of scary things going on in the world, but from another perspective - the world as we know it has a whole lotta promise.

- the stock prices may be dropping, but oil is hovering at $50 a barrel. It's high not that long ago was $147 a barrel. People do not own fewer cars or live any closer to work, so a commodity everyone needs is on sale for 66% off right now with the potential (if things go back to where they were) to triple your money (keep in mind the price predictions fro oil were that they were/ are going to go even higher).- we may be finding new things like BPA's that arm potentially harmful to the environment, but at least we are getting that information. Between 1931 and 1960 in Deline, NWT, 35 people who were working in a mine transporting uranium ore had no idea there were potential risks involved in their lucrative new opportunity. 15 of those 35 died of cancer. I think we have it pretty good today because at least we are being informed of the risks; even if it may be a bit of overkill.- the great will always find a way. Yes, some businesses will be scaling back, perhaps even shutting their doors for good - however this time of global recession is forcing the doers to step up and is mulling over those that sit and wait. It is literally a new kind of evolution- an evolution of the workforce where the best have to get better and the good have to be great. This is an opportunity; because if you are reading swim upstream - you don't aspire to a job where you hate the work and get paid maximum wage for minimum input- you are willing to roll up the sleeves. The great news here is that you are going to have more colleagues like you, and fewer parasites who hold you back.- perspectives are changing. If people are losing their shirts in the stock market, or their business is seeing smaller profits, their priorities are shifting- or they will be the captain going down with the Titanic. More family time and quality interactions and less time with Paris Hilton as she searches for a new BFF.

all told, there are a lot of reasons to smile - after all, the stock crisis is in large part exacerbated by the law of large numbers - the more people who panic and hold their equity liquid- the more the stock market crashes. The more people who invest in oil or other stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs, the more money everyone makes as we recover even back to par.

The big takeaway is that the point of today's entry is 1% financial and 99% on perspective. Look for the silver lining- the opportunity in every situation, as that mindset will always reap better results than panic (which is usually characterized by poor decisions or inaction/ missed opportunities anyways).

Oh, and go forward today looking for reasons to smile amidst some nay-sayers, and spread those reasons to others- that's what swimming upstream is all about.